Eleme petrochemical, Discos, EPCL, Nicon Insurance, others to be offered for sale in 2024—BPE

Bureau of Public Enterprises BPE, is to raise money for the federal government to part finance the 2924 budget through the offer for sale of five public enterprises and Electricity Distribution Companies ( Discos) next year. The privatisation agency said it has wrapped up plans to offload 40 per cent remainder of the Federal Government’s portion in Eleme Petrochemicals Company Limited (EPCL), Nigeria Re-Insurance; Nicon Insurance; Discos and the Nigeria Machine Tools in Osogbo to Nigerians public via Public Offerings ( IPO) at the capital market. The Director-General of BPE, Mr Alex Okoh said this at a media chat  in Abuja on Tuesday. BPE had sold 60 per cent of equity in the five enterprises to core investors, leaving the government with a 40 percent balance.

Okoh while speaking with newsmen said the privatisation programme recorded significant mileages in the past six months from both foreign and local investors. “The reception of the ideology of privatisation is making more sense and gaining more grounds under the current administration than the previous one. In the past six months, you can count the number of trips and visits the president has made to seek Foreign Direct Investments ( FDI) for the economy; and create an enabling environment for these investments; to locate the opportunities locally. “That itself is huge because you are placing yourself in the competitive international capital market or investment market that listen, look at us as well. There are huge opportunities for your investment now, so that is what is different”, he said.

Speaking on BPE’s plan to sell the government’s 40 per cent remainder stakes to the public, Okoh said it will happen in 2024. “IPO through the capital market is a very credible strategy for us. Once we are able to resolve a few changes we are having now, especially ownership challenges with some Discos, we resolve to sell. So the capital market, yes once we resolve the 40 per cent ownership in the discos, once we are done with the discos, we also plan to take Eleme petrochemicals to the market, we had also planned to take Nigerian Reinsurance insurance to the market, Nicon insurance to the capital market. Of course, we started but had some problems with a core investor, Jimoh Ibrahim. So, there are lots of issues involved in taking some of these entities to the market. Nigerian Machine Tools, Oshogbo is also slated for the capital market. Yes on all fronts, we expect a more active year in 2024 for the BPE, and every step of the way both in terms of educating the public and also helping us to navigate various stakeholder concerns “, Mr. Okoh said.

To effectively undertake reforms of public enterprises, and conduct sales and Post-privatisation assessment, the federal government allocated N2.4 billion expenditure to BPE in the 2024 fiscal budget. Of the amount the personnel cost is allocated N1.4 billion, salary and wage N8244.8 million; allowance and social contributions to gulp N 575. Million while training is allocated N80 million